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Resource Planning

On December 21, 2016, Public Act 341 of 2016 (Act 341), an amendment to Public Act 3 of 1939 and Public Act 286 of 2008 (Act 286), was signed into law and became effective April 20, 2017. This web page overviews key provisions related to Resource Adequacy, Integrated Resource Plans, Certificate of Necessity requests for utility constructed electric generation resources, and Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity requests for transmission siting approval.

Resource Adequacy

All load-serving entities (LSE) in Michigan, including electric utilities, cooperatives, municipal utilities and alternative electric suppliers are required to annually demonstrate to the Commission that it has sufficient planning resources four years forward to meet the needs of its customers.

Integrated Resource Planning

A utility IRP is a long-term plan, typically spanning twenty years or more, providing the most reasonable and prudent means of meeting the energy and capacity resources of its customers. Section 6T(3) and (20) of Act 341 required each rate regulated electric utility to conduct an initial IRP and file it with the Commission within two years of the effective date of the act and to file an updated IRP at least every five years thereafter. The Act directed the Commission to establish filing requirements, application forms, and filing deadlines for utility IRPs that can be found at the following links:

The Act also directed the Commission to establish modeling scenarios and assumptions each electric utility should include, in addition to utility scenarios and assumptions, in developing the IRP filed under subsection (3). The Commission-approved Michigan Integrated Resource Plan Parameters can be found at the following links:

Certificate of Necessity (CON)

A utility CON is an application requesting that the Commission acknowledge and agree to the need for a large investment in an electric generation plant or power purchase agreement, the pre-approval of which allows recovery of the investment through subsequent regulatory rate case recovery processes. PA 341 of 2016, Section 6S updated the CON requirements developed for the prior energy law, Act 286 of 2008, as well as updated the Commission’s evaluation criteria of the reasonableness and prudence of the CON application request.

Alternative Competitive Proposals

Act 341 allows a non-utility electric supplier to propose an alternative to a utility CON as described in Section 6s(13) and 6t(6). An alternative competitive proposal is a project that an independent electric supplier offers as an alternative to a utility-built project. The Commission established filing requirements for these alternative electric generation proposals and these can be found at the following link:

Certificate of Public Convenience & Necessity (CPCN)

Public Act 30 of 1995 established a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for proposed transmission lines that are greater than 5 miles in length and transferred at 345 kilovolts or more. The application for a proposed transmission line meeting this criterion is treated as a contested case with a one-year deadline for the Commission to either grant or deny the request.